


These Flowers Have Thorns

by mikimouze16



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Has OCD, Harry Potter is a Snape, Harry Snape, Lily Evans Potter Lives, Love, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Severitus | Severus Snape is Harry Potter's Parent, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Severus Snape Lives, Slytherin Harry Potter, Snape has a daughter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikimouze16/pseuds/mikimouze16
Summary: His mother had made so many sacrifices for them. She had taken on jobs she hated just to stay in the shadows. She gave up birthdays and Christmas for herself to be able to collect enough for her children. At night, though she would never admit it, she would cry over her lost love. Harry would hear her sobs through the thin walls of the old apartment, and he would always promise to make his mother happy somehow.This, he convinced himself, was hopefully a way to fulfill his promise. Ignoring the second guess whispering in the back of his mind, he tied the letter to Talia’s foot. “This is to go to Severus Snape.”-This is how a single letter reunited a broken family and set in motion the ability to destroy Albus Dumbledore.
Relationships: Lily Evans Potter/Severus Snape
Comments: 26
Kudos: 203





	These Flowers Have Thorns

The trunk that he had dragged down from the attic was heavy, dusty, and due for a good organization make over. He was well aware that his mother didn’t want him to dig through her old school things but at this point it was the only items in their cramped apartment that hadn’t been affect by Harry’s OCD. Now that his mother was out with his sister he took the chance to clean it. 

He had started by cleaning the dust off. It took several rags just to see that the trunk wasn’t actually a grayish brown but a dark stained oak. After cleaning the dust off, he polished the wood filling the apartment with the smell of artificial lemons. He decided to polish the metal clasps last. 

He heaved the lid open, it was extremely heavy, but he figured that was due to the books that sat in a small pocket on the top. Carefully, he pulled out the journals, photo albums, pictures, letters and old jewelry out. Pilling each into small piles around him he threw himself into the trunk. He cleaned the cobwebs and dead bugs away with a wave of his wand. He then dove back into the drunk with a rag and cleaning supplies. There was a couple of ink stains that Harry had to begrudgingly stop scrubbing at, if they weren’t coming out now they never would. 

Cleaning the trunk was easy all it took was elbow grease. The hard part was trying to figure out how to organize the items that had been piled around him. He started with the old jewelry, clumping bracelets together in one bag, earrings in another, and necklaces were charmed with anti-tangle charms before dropped into the last bag. He then put all those into a box and placed into the trunk. The frames were bunched together based on the faces he saw. He found quite a few had a younger version of his mum smiling back at him with a man who had long hair and his arm wrapped around her waist. Harry was surprised, his mother never seemed to be so carefree as she did in the photos. Then, for a brief moment, he wondered if this was his late father that his mother refused to talk about. He shut that thought down and placed them neatly beside the jewelry. The photo albums and journals were easy, he just put them in the trunk based on the year. 

The real issue would be the letters. He really didn’t want to go about reading private mail but the thought of leaving letters unorganized in the trunk made his skin itch. He rubbed his arms trying to get rid of the invisible ants before grabbing the first letter. After a deep breath he skimmed through the letter looking for the sender. It was on the backside of the parchment. In tight narrow script the name Severus Snape appeared. And it kept appearing.

Out of the large amount of letters that had been sent to his mother, he could count on two hands the number of letters from other people. The name Remus Lupin popped up every so often. So did his late grandparents, and one from his stale aunt. 

Whoever this Severus person was, his mother seemed to care about him quite a bit. She had kept tons of letters from the man. From his skimming he deducted that the man had cared about his mother as well.  He knew what he was about to do was dangerous. His mother had told him time and time again that she left the United Kingdom for her and her children’s safety after their father had died. She had made a mad dash with an infant Harry while she was pregnant with his sister, Alyssa. They had never stayed in one place too long in the beginning, his mother dancing around the various countries before settling in Denmark when he was five. 

His mother had made so many sacrifices for them. She had taken on jobs she hated just to stay in the shadows. She gave up birthdays and Christmas for herself to be able to collect enough for her children. At night, though she would never admit it, she would cry over her lost love. Harry would hear her sobs through the thin walls of the old apartment, and he would always promise to make his mother happy somehow.

This, he convinced himself, was hopefully a way to fulfill his promise. Ignoring the second guess whispering in the back of his mind, he tied the letter to Talia’s foot. “This is to go to Severus Snape,” His whispered to the brown owl, “He's somewhere in the United Kingdom. I’m sorry I don’t have any more information.” The owl just affectionately nipped at his knuckle before taking off. 

With that done and gone, he put the letter asking the man to once again correspond his mother in the back of his mind. He returned to the task of organizing the letters. He neatly placed them into the trunk before the lid fell close, and he started polishing the clasps with and old rag. 

Once the polish was wiped off and the silver once again reflected the surroundings around him, he dragged his mothers trunk back to where he found it. That was of course after slamming his head on a support beam. He glanced at his watch, his mother wouldn’t be back with Alyssa for another few hours, so he had time to clean another forgotten trunk. He could possibly organize his mother’s old charm books that she had boxed up and shoved here. 

Right before he reached down to the cardboard box, there was sharp rapping at the door. He sighed before climbing down and ducking away from the badly placed support beam. He wondered if Mrs. Nowak needed more cooking oil. She always seemed to run out. Their mom decided it would be best to have an extra bottle at all times for the woman. The rapping started on the door once again just as he grabbed the bottle and made his way for the front door.

Unlocking it he happily called out to his neighbor, “Don’t worry Mrs. Nowak we have extra cooking-” But the words stopped in his throat when he saw that it wasn’t his elderly neighbor. It was a man with shoulder-length hair and a long crooked nose. Harry blinked several times before whispering, “You’re the man from the photos.” 

“I’m Severus Snape,” He softly told the boy. He was looking Harry over. He seemed to be staring at him in disbelief. “I got your letter.”

“Oh!” Harry shifted from one foot to the other, “I thought you would write back. Mom’s not here right now, she went out with Alyssa. They were helping her boss in the garden before going to the Market.” 

“She left you here alone?” He asked with knitted brows.

“I’m twelve!” he admonished, “I can look after myself for a few hours.”

The man hesitated, “May I come in?” 

Harry felt conflicted. His mother warned him to never allow strangers in the house but this man was in photos when she was a girl. Surely she would allow a friend in the house when she wasn’t here. After a moment he moved out of the doorway letting the man in before shutting and locking it.

Returning the oil to the cabinet he asked the man if he would like some tea, his mother had bought a sampler pack this time around. When he showed the man the package he pulled out the mint tea. 

“That’s my favorite,” Harry smiled at the man while pouring water into the mugs, “Mum and Alyssa hate it. She said I got my weirdness from my father.”

“Weirdness?” Severus asked in a tight voice. Harry gave him a puzzled look.

“My love for mint. My obsessive need for things to be organized. She even blames my snoring on him.” Harry smiled when the man snorted at the last statement. He mutter something under his breath but Harry didn’t catch it. 

“Where is your father?” The man asked seemingly struggling to force the words out. 

“He died,” Harry admitted sadly. “Mum said that we had gone into hiding without him, and he was killed. She said that he was doing dangerous things for an ungrateful government. She doesn’t talk about him much, it makes her really sad. She was told that he died the day before some crazy man had come and attacked us. Mum was able to get me away but the friend she was staying with died making sure she could do so.” 

“You said you had a sister?” Severus questioned once he finished his tea. 

“Yeah,” he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a photo of the three of them huddle together with ice cream cones. He handed it to Severus who took a sharp intake of breath. “Apparently she has curls from our Dad’s Mum. Mum didn’t know she was pregnant until months after Dad died.” 

“So Harry,” He drawled putting down the photo on the counter, “What school do you go to?”

“ The Lycée Français Prins Henrik,” Harry supplied happily, “They have a wizarding curriculum along with their muggles courses. Alyssa and I both go there.” 

“I’m guessing you and your sister speak Danish?”

“And French!” Harry boasted. He was excited to share more of what he knew but the door knob rattled as the locked turned and was pushed open. Alyssa came in first. Her deep auburn hair bounced with each step. She stopped once she noticed someone new in the apartment. She turned to the side and eyes the man wearily.

“Hunny,” Their mother spoke, “You can’t stop in the middle of the doorways, I’ve told you this.” Noticing that her daughter wasn’t going to move she looked around the bag of groceries in her hands. She followed her daughters gaze and froze. 

The bag in her hands dropped to the floor. Produce rolled out and the guts of the eggs oozed from the carton. She paid it no mind before stepping over the mess and past her daughter. Gently, she lifted her small hands and cupped the man’s face. Her thumbs rubbed over his cheeks bones, and she searched every inch of him. Tears built in her eyes as she looked over the man. 

"He said you died,” She whispered. Severus’s hands reached up and lightly grabbed her wrists, “He said that they found out you betrayed them and killed you.” Tears were now falling down her face. 

Severus’s eyebrows knitted together before shaking his head, “No, they never found out. Who told you that?”

“Albus!” She admitted. “He said he had to go and claim your body. Then we were attacked. James died letting us being able to escape. Albus caught up and said we had to leave. It was too dangerous to stay in the country.” 

“No,” He whispered, “No. He told me that you all died that night. He said Black was the secret keeper, and he gave you up.” 

“Sirius? No, Albus was the secret keeper.”

“Mum?” Harry asked from the floor. He was cleaning up the mess from when she dropped the groceries. Alyssa was next to him trying to cast the cleaning charm. “Mum, what’s going on?” 

“Hold on, Harry,” She turned back to Severus. Her hands were now resting on his chest, “How’d you find us?”

“Harry sent me a letter. Said that he found old letters of mine in a trunk and asked if I could write to you so you had someone to talk to.” 

Lily whipped around and looked at her son, “What did I tell you about going in to those trunks!”

“They. Were. Dirty!” He retorted. 

“You’re as bad as your father!” She huffed. Severus chuckled next to her. 

“Okay?” 

Lily then stiffened suddenly realizing that this was essentially the first time the kids were meeting their father. She leaned towards Severus, “How do I tell my kids that their father isn’t actually dead but in their apartment.”

“You’re the Gryffindor, be rash about it?” She narrowed her eyes at the statement. 

“He’s our Dad, isn’t he?” Harry asked after putting away the freshly clean produced. Alyssa turned to the man with a sparkle in her eyes. 

“Really?” She whispered. 

"How-”

“Mint tea,” Harry said with a sly grin. “Plus I’m good at reading people.”

She glared at Severus, “Definitely yours.” He just burst into a deep laugh and pulled the love of his life into his arms. He rested his chin on the top of her head after she tucked herself into his body. The comforting scent of mixed rosemary and cinnamon. 

“What have you’ve been doing all this time?” Lily asked pulling Severus to the worn couch in the living room. The kids followed, Harry plopped onto the chair and Alyssa laid on top of him. He tried to shove her off, but she kept climbing back on to him. With a huff he gave up. 

“I’ve been at Hogwarts. Albus pulled me into a contract saying it was the only way they would accept my testimony as a spy,” Severus shook the hair from his face, “I was so distraught. He used it against me.” 

“Can’t you just quit?” Harry asked.

“Knowing Albus? It’s probably much more complicated than that.” Lily leaned into Severus. “What if we came back with you?”

“You think I would leave here without you?” He drawled. 

“Just making sure,” She turned and kissed his cheek. She had missed this. She had missed him. 

The family spent the rest of the night in the living room. Mainly it was Severus learning about his kids. The one he thought he lost and the one he never knew. Lily also spoke of some of her work, admitted at taking low paying jobs to not attract attention. She showed him some of her Charm work that she had done over the years. Spells and enchantments that filled up notebooks and loose paper. Severus spoke of potions that he reworked or created. The night only ended after dinner was eater and nightly routines were finished. 

For the first time in a decade, Lily got to fall asleep in the arms of her husband.


End file.
